"Very impressive," Mikel Arteta beamed when asked about Ethan Nwaneri's performance against Brentford on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old was making his first Premier League start at the Gtech Community Stadium and looked extremely bright in the right wing position. Not afraid to take on his man or cut inside on his left foot, Nwaneri was involved in both Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli's goals as the Gunners secured a 3-1 victory.

Five minutes into the second half, Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken made a mess of Nwaneri’s corner and the ball fell to Gabriel Jesus whose effort was blocked before Merino poked home. Nwaneri, who became the youngest player in Premier League history at this ground two years ago, was then involved in the Gunners' third as he cut in from the right flank before delivering an enticing ball into the Brentford box. Nathan Collins headed the ball away from danger but his clearance fell only to Martinelli with the Brazilian’s lethal finish flying past a flat-footed Flekken.

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Arteta made four changes to the team, with players unavailable through illness and injury, but the Spaniard was delighted with how the team responded and signalled Nwaneri out for special praise. “The game became very difficult from yesterday because, again, we lost some players and had certain issues around the camp," Arteta said after the match.

"We had to deal with that, we made some changes, Ethan [Nwaneri] making his Premier League debut, anyone that you put there, [they had the] right attitude, right level of performance and that sustains the level of the team. Ethan’s played here before, so that’s a nice story, to get back to this one, I think he was really composed, really determined, taking risks, taking initiative. Very impressive.”

Capable of playing in midfield and on the right wing, Nwaneri effectively replaced the injured Bukayo Saka and did not look out of place out wide. With Saka most likely out until March due to a hamstring injury, Nwaneri may be trusted even more in the coming weeks as Arteta seeks to fill the creativity void.

"Well, in that position it wasn't because of the bug, it was a decision I made because I thought he [Nwaneri] was the best player to play in the position to start the game and because there was a story there with his debut here," Arteta explained. "Part of that development is patience, managing frustration, managing expectation because you expect that everything is going to go so fast as the previous things happens and it's not the case," the Arsenal boss added. "So now we're building him, he's already played a lot of games, a lot of minutes for us, the age that he’s got and he fully deserves that."

It's clear Arteta knows he has a gem in Nwaneri. The fact the teenager can play in midfield, right wing and even as a No.9 - Arteta said as much last month - may even impact the Gunners' transfer plans this month. football.london understands the north Londoners are likely to be more reactive than proactive in the January transfer market, although many supporters believe the club need to sign an attacking player to somewhat replace Saka.

With Nwaneri showing his class against Brentford, it may well be that Arsenal ignore the temptation to sign a forward this window and wait until the summer when there's better value for money. Brighton, Newcastle, Man Utd, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Dinamo Zagreb, Wolves and Girona all play Arsenal in January and Nwaneri may well be handed even more starts throughout the month. After Brentford, the teenager certainly deserves it.